I just had my latest snipe fail due to eBay requiring a validation code. Luckily I bid on the item with 2 minutes to go so I'd be the highest bidder going into the final seconds, just in case this might happen.

eBay has been forcing me to change my password (6 times this month), usually within 24 hours of my sniping using MyBidder. Connection?

Still doesnt't work
#122194722634

>> I sent some emails about it to eBay, still waiting for a response.

Hi, did you get a response from ebay yet?

I just got the same error when placing a bid, and like another person has mentioned above... they've asked me to reset my password twice in the last 15 days due to someone trying to use my account according to them. These happened either the same or one day after I used myibidder, so let's see if they don't ask me to change the password again tomorrow...

Any one has a solution or workaround to have this or a similar thing working?

I did not get any response from them, but I got some reports from other users that they called eBay and asked to remove the restriction by allowing them to login from other locations (other IP addresses) which should clear things up.

I called eBay two days ago to get them to stop resetting my password, went through a crazy process of having them call me back to verify I was really the account holder, and things seemed good. But now two more sniped have failed with the verification code requirement. So even having your account taken off their overzealous watch for unauthorized activity doesn't help. Now what?

microshnik,
Did eBay say what happened this time? Maybe your request did not go through or something?
Maybe they expect a specific list of IP addresses or some special name resolution. I can meet their requirements, I just need to know what they need.

I just lost out on an auction where my snipe would have been over $10 MORE than the sold price. I have used your service for some time and never had a problem. In fact I used it about a month ago and it worked perfectly.

What is the process to get eBay to NOT pull this stunt going forward?

Bret Waisner

bwaisner,
There is no specific process. I think it's a new thing on eBay.
Some users reported it's usually enough to call eBay and ask them to allow their logins to login from other IP addresses without any specific restrictions.

Made 3 snipes yesterday. First went through no probs, 2nd two later - both failed on Verification issue. No messages from Ebay. No reports of recent acitivity issues via Ebay messaging. I made a manual bid last night from a different location (friends house) - went through fine.

Ebay must be familiar with MyIbidder server addresses, cant see why they would block them all of a sudden? Asking Ebay to ignore suspicious activity on my account in the hope that resolves it, is not an option for me! Doesnt seem to change it anyway. This shouldnt be deemed suspicious activity.

Hope you find a resolution soon.

It works fine now. Could be just a glitch on their side, but it's also possible eBay is rolling out some new features regarding security.
Who knows, maybe each user will get a control panel where one can specify the list of allowed IP addresses and fix the issue this way. That would be nice.

Sashka,

The first CSR I spoke to didn't even understand that I was complaining about my password being reset rather than there possibly being unauthorized activity to trigger it, and the second one was clearly awestruck by the concept of authorizing a third-party service to bid on my behalf. I didn't even get to the point of asking to permit specific IP addresses to use my credentials free and clear. Needless to say, they explained absolutely nothing, and I consider myself lucky that I only had to go through two (this time) to get something that appears to have resolved that specific problem. If they start resetting my password again, I'll be sure to extract as much detail from them as I can.

FYI, the issue is intermittent; sometimes my snipes go through just fine (win or lose) and sometimes they get blocked. I've yet to detect a pattern, but I'll let you know if I do.

microshnik,
Thank you for the provided information. It's valuable and I hope eBay would finally settle on this and may be even allow users to control their own whitelist.

I got my first "verification code" issue on Myibidder today.

Dunno if you're aware, but another snipe engine/agent (Auctionsniper) had massive problems with this back in August last year, when ebay seemed to be specifically targetting them by imposing captcha checks. At the time, ebay claimed they were *not* specifically targetting snipers.

The situation seemed to settle down within a couple of months, though I don't know if it went away completely. I don't know what they did (e.g. to improve handling of captchas), or what ebay did (loosen the restrictions), or what unseen agreements they came to. But it might be worth trying to find out?
I know they're competitors, but just saying ...

measdale,
I don't think they would share if I contact them directly.
You probably have a better chance to find out since you are not involved into any services, but I'll be surprised if they provide any light for it.

wrote:
I just had my latest snipe fail due to eBay requiring a validation code. Luckily I bid on the item with 2 minutes to go so I'd be the highest bidder going into the final seconds, just in case this might happen.

eBay has been forcing me to change my password (6 times this month), usually within 24 hours of my sniping using MyBidder. Connection?

same
starting to worry about using this app

im-the-hitcher wrote:

wrote:
eBay has been forcing me to change my password (6 times this month), usually within 24 hours of my sniping using MyBidder. Connection?

same
starting to worry about using this app

If you are keep being asked to change your password, you should change it.
You can also contact eBay and tell them that you actually authorized that login from another location and so they won't be blocking it anymore.

Sashka,

Unfortunately, eBay reset my password again, despite the "exclusion" that was placed on my account during my last call to them. The CSR I spoke with this time informed me that the exclusion was to prevent IP blocking (which had not even happened previously) and that the automatic review of the account that triggers the password reset actually overrides the exclusion. In other words, it's entirely useless! She requested a new one, but I have very little hope that this one will do any good either.

I asked specifically about the possibility of white-listing certain IPs and she said they can only do that if an IP has been blocked. I also asked about the verification code issue and she stated it's a Captcha system that is entirely automatic and nothing can be done to the account to prevent them from being presented periodically. I wish the news were better, but there you have it.

That's interesting. Every one has own experience and it's so different.
I think each rep provides different information and that may be confusing.

The captcha started just recently, so they changed something recently for sure. It was not something like nothing can be done because I see many users have no issue since than.

I would guess this maybe account-specific so if you want to try, you can create a brand new eBay account for sniping purposes.

it's back! lost a nice auction today with the dreaded "ebay requires verification code"

There was a short spike with the same issue, but it was quickly gone.
Things are getting better now.